January 7, 2018

Trumpian Philosophy: Any Regulation Is Bad, Even If It Protects Sick Old People

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a14504814/trump-nursing-home-regulations/
"Wednesday’s example comes to us from The New York Times, and isn’t this decision going to be a lovely one when they come for Medicare because of the “unexpected” explosion of the deficit due to the abomination of a tax bill they just passed. The Trump administration is scaling back the use of fines against nursing homes that harm residents or place them in grave risk of injury, part of a broader relaxation of regulations under the president. The shift in the Medicare program’s penalty protocols was requested by the nursing home industry. The American Health Care Association, the industry’s main trade group, has complained that under President Barack Obama, federal inspectors focused excessively on catching wrongdoing rather than helping nursing homes improve. That last sentence is a real keeper, isn’t it? If you keep punishing us for our substandard practices, we won’t be able to improve our substandard practices. Punishment for breaking laws is a hindrance to our abiding by them. Thousands of criminal defense lawyers are wondering why they didn’t think of that one first."